Paddle-ball toy



June 11, 1963 M. TERRY 3,093,376

PADDLE-BALL TOY Filed Dec. 50, 1960 2 Sheet-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. M okk I TERI? Y ATTOKIE YS M. TERRY PADDLE-BALL TOY June 11, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 30, 1960 .l llI-ll] llll I Y I Fig. 4

Fig. 7

INVENTOR. Mom/s TEKAY A Tn (4 5):

United States Patent ()fi ice 3,093,376 Patented June 11, 1963 3,093,376 PADDLE-BALL TOY Morris Terry, Detroit, Mich, assignor of one-half to Lottie Terry, Detroit, Mich. Filed Dec. 30, 1960, Ser. No. 79,633 2 Claims. (Cl. 2733-37) This invention relates generally to the toy art and more particularly, to a novel and improved paddle-ball toy.

Heretofore there have been many paddle-ball toys made which included a paddle or bat to which was attached a rubber ball by means of an elastic cord. These prior art toys required a certain amount of skill and dexterity to operate since when the ball is hit, it flies outwardly from the bat a large distance since it is carried normally on a long elastic cord whereby when the ball is reversed in its travel towards the bat or paddle by means of the elastic cord, the user must be able to bring the paddle into the path of the returning ball or the ball will miss the paddle and go past the same whereby the user must start all over again. Therefore, the paddle-ball toys of the aforementioned prior art type are not adapted for use by children who are very young. Accordingly, it is an important object of the present invention to provide a paddle-ball toy which is simple and compact in construction, economical of manufacture, light in weight, efficient in operation and which may be operated by a young child who is merely able to hold the paddle upright and move the same backwardly and forwardly.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a paddle-ball toy which incorporates a paddle that is provided with a rubber ball on each side thereof with the balls being secured to the paddle by a short length of an elastic cord whereby when the paddle is moved backwardly and forwardly the balls will be alternately struck by the paddle to produce a tapping sound.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a paddle-ball -toy which is constructed and arranged to produce a tapping ball function or result which was not achievable by the prior art paddle-ball toys and wherein the paddle may be made from wood, plastic or other suitable material.

Other objects, features and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the following detailed description and appended claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of the specification wherein like reference numerals designate corresponding parts of the several views.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a paddle-ball toy incorporating the principles of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the paddle-ball structure shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a paddle-ball toy made in accordance with the principles of the invention and shown on a reduced scale;

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of the paddle-ball toy shown in FIG. 1, showing the toy on a reduced scale, and showing the movements of the balls relative to the paddle;

FIG. 5 is a front elevational view of a modified paddle employed in the invention;

FIG. 6 is a front elevational view of a second embodiment of the invention and showing a paddle made of a plastic material;

FIG. 7 is an elevational sectional view of the structure shown in FIG. 6 taken along the line '77 thereof and looking in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the upper end portion of the paddle structure shown in FIG. 6.

FIG. 9 is a view of the rubber balls and elastic cord employed in the embodiment of FIG. 6; and,

FIG. 10 is a side elevational view of the structure illustrated in FIG. 6, taken along the line ltL-ltl thereof and looking in the direction of the arrows.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 through 4 wherein is shown an illustrative embodiment of the invention, the numeral 10 generally indicates a paddle which comprises the upper fiat portion 11, the hand portion 12 and the neck portion 13 which interconnects the bat and handle portions. The paddle may be made from any suitable material as for example, plywood, a lightweight metal, or a plastic material. It will be understood that the paddle may be made to any size desired. An optimum size has been found to be one wherein the paddle is made approximately inch in thickness, ten inches in height, is approximately 4 /2 inches across at the widest point in the bat portion, is approximately one inch across at the neck portion and approximately one and a half inches across the widest point of the handle portion. As shown in FIG. 2, the paddle 10 has connected on each side thereof the rubber balls 14 and 15. One end of an elastic cord or rubber band 16 is connected to the one side of the paddle by any suitable means, as by a metal clip 17, at a point approximately 2% inches from the top of the paddle. The other end of the elastic cord 16 is suitably connected to the ball 14 by any suitable means. The ball 15 is similarly connected to the opposite side of the paddle 10 by means of the elastic cord or rubber band 18, and the metal clip 19. The upper ends of the elastic cords 16 and 18 should be connected to the approximate center point of the paddle portion 11 and the connection points on each side of the paddle of the cords 16 and 18 to the paddle portion 11 should be coaxial with each other. The length of the rubber or elastic cords 16 and 18 should be approximately 4 inches. A desirable size of rubber ball for the balls 14 and 15 is one which is approximately one inch to 1% inches in diameter.

In use the paddle 10 is grasped by the user at the handle portion 12 and held in a vertical position. The user then simply by wrist action moves the paddle 10 backwardly and forwardly from the two positions shown in FIG. 4 by the dotted lines and indicated by the reference numerals 20 and 21. When the paddle is in the position 20 the ball 14 will striking the paddle, and the ball 15 will be disposed outwardly from the paddle and the cord 18 will be in a stretched condition. When the paddle 10 is moved to the position 21, the opposite action will take place, that is, the ball 15 will be striking the face of the paddle and the ball 14 will be disposed outwardly from the paddle and the cord 16 will be in a stretched condition. By simply waving the paddle backwardly and forwardly, the paddle will alternately strike the balls 14- and 15 and produce a tapping sound. The rate of striking of the balls will, of course, depend on the rate at which the paddle is operated backwardly and forwardly. The construction of the paddle is such that the young child of 3 or 4 years may successfully operate the paddleball toy to produce the tapping sound. Heretofore the single ball prior art paddle-ball toys with the long rubber cord could not be successfully operated by such a young child because such a young child does not have the skill and dexterity to operate a prior art paddle-ball toy.

FIG. 5 shows a slight embodiment of the invention in which the paddle itself is formed to a shape somewhat different than the embodiment of FIG. 1. The only difference between the paddle structure of FIG. 5 and that of FIG. 1 is that the ends of the bat and handle portions are rounded off. The similar parts of the embodiment of FIG. 5 have been marked with the same reference numerals of the embodiment of FIG. 1 followed by the small letter a. The embodiment of FIG. 5 operates in the same manner as the embodiment of FIG. 1.

FIGS. 6 through 10 disclose a third embodiment of the invention. This embodiment illustrates the making of the paddle in a plastic material. The parts of this embodiment which are similar to the parts of FIG. 1 are marked with similar reference numerals followed by the small letter 1:.

In this embodiment, the balls 1% and b are secured together by the continuous integral elastic cord indicated by the numeral 22 in FIG. 9. The elastic cord will be approximately 10 inches long. The paddle itself would be made of any suitable plastic material and provided with a rib 22 around the outer edge of the main body of the paddle. The rib 23 stems outwardly laterally or perpendicularly from the main surface, of the paddle. The paddle may be provided with the elongated hole 24 in the handle and neck portions 12b and 13b to make the paddle lighter. The rib 23 provides rigidity to the plastic paddle and permits the making of the paddle with a thinner body portion. The hole 24 also permits the plastic to cool quicker whereby the paddles may be made .at a faster rate.

As shown in FIGS. 6 and 8, a substantially rectangular hole 25 is formed centrally in the bat portion 11b. Along the lower side of the opening 24 are formed two downwardly directed laterally spaced apart elongated openings 26 and 27. As shown in FIG. 8, a slot as 28 and 29 is formed along the inner side of the downwardly extended openings 26 and 27, respectively. The halls 14b and 15b are mounted on the paddle 10b \by compressing one of the balls and passing it through the hole 25. The elastic cord 22 is then wrapped around the finger portion 30 of the bat portion. The .cord 22 is wrapped around the bat portion 30 so as to provide equal lengths of the elastic cord on each side of the paddle. The cord 22 is disposed in the slots 28 and 29 and is preferably looped around the finger portion 30 a few times and wedged in place in the slots 28 and 29 to maintain equal lengths 4 of the cord 22 on each side of the paddle 10b. The embodiment of FIGS. 6 through 10 functions in the same manner as the embodiments of FIGS. 1 and 5.

While it will be apparent that the preferred embodiments of the invention herein disclosed are well calculated to fulfill the objects above stated, it will be appreciated that the invention is susceptible to modification, variation and change without departing from the proper scope or fair meaning of the subjoined claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a paddle ball toy, the combination, comprising: a paddle; a first rebounding ball; a first elastic cord having one end attached to said first ball and the other end attached to one side of said paddle; a second rebounding ball; a second elastic cord having one end attached to said second ball and the other end attached to the other side of said paddle; the elastic cords being attached to the paddle at aligned positions on the opposite sides of .said paddle; and, the lengths of said elastic cords being so made that said balls are disposed against the paddle when the paddle is held upright, whereby, when the paddle is moved sidewardly, backwardly and forwardly said balls will alternately hit against the paddle to produce a tapping action.

2. The paddle-ball toy as defined in claim 1, wherein: said elastic cords are connected together to form a single cord, and, said paddle is provided with a portion around which the single elastic cord is wound for connecting the balls to the paddle.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,022,339 Sloan Apr. 2, 1912 1,529,600 Lind Mar. 10, 1925 1,606,061 Dansby Nov. 9, 1926 2,950,113 Barnack Aug. 23, 1960 

1. IN A PADDLE-BALL TOY, THE COMBINATION, COMPRISING: A PADDLE; A FIRST REBOUNDING BALL; A FIRST ELASTIC CORD HAVING ONE END ATTACHED TO SAID FIRST BALL AND THE OTHER END ATTACHED TO ONE SIDE OF SAID PADDLE; A SECOND REBOUNDING BALL; A SECOND ELASTIC CORD HAVING ONE END ATTACHED TO SAID SECOND BALL AND THE OTHER END ATTACHED TO THE OTHER SIDE OF SAID PADDLE; THE ELASTIC CORDS BEING ATTACHED TO THE PADDLE AT ALIGNED POSITIONS ON THE OPPOSITE SIDES OF SAID PADDLE; AND, THE LENGTHS OF SAID ELASTIC CORDS BEING SO MADE THAT SAID BALLS ARE DISPOSED AGAINST THE PADDLE WHEN THE PADDLE IS HELD UPRIGHT, WHEREBY, WHEN THE PADDLE IS MOVED SIDEWARDLY, BACKWARDLY AND FORWARDLY SAID BALLS WILL ALTERNATELY HIT AGAINST THE PADDLE TO PRODUCE A TAPPING ACTION. 